


From Then, 'Till Now - Chapter Four

by lex_the_flex17



Series: From Then, 'Till Now [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29879271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lex_the_flex17/pseuds/lex_the_flex17
Summary: For the last seventy years, the man known as the Winter Soldier has been the main impromptu for the organization known as Hydra. In 1994, the wicked soldier took many lives beyond his control, including your father's in a sabotaged assignment. As the years progressed, the man broke free from the Hydra programming, as you continued to live your life shrouded by ignorance. Now, as the two of you are free from your shackles, your minds are finally at ease. That is, until you ran into the real Bucky Barnes. Now, can you teach him how to be human again?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Reader, James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader
Series: From Then, 'Till Now [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2173575
Kudos: 3





	From Then, 'Till Now - Chapter Four

**Author's Note:**

> Word Count: 2.5k 
> 
> Warnings: Fluff, frustrated Bucky and reader, descriptions of violence and action, and slight angst.
> 
> A/N: Thank you so much for all the love over the past few days! Feedback is appreciated and enjoy! 
> 
> *There is some Russian through Google translate. I apologize if it’s wrong, I tried my best.*

Previously

'Standing before him, his steel blue eyes wander all around you. They hungrily study every part of you from your clothes, your hair color, to even your facial features. Then, in an instant, he wraps his right arm around you, and gently lifts you from the spot where you were standing. His soft dark brown hair tickles your earlobe as you wrap your arms around him. 

“I knew you’d come. The dreams were real. You are real.” Bucky says through the rising lump in his throat. 

Tears begin to form in your eyes, knowing that your father was right all along. Now, it was job to rid Bucky of the Hydra programming and discover who he truly was. And nothing was going to get in your way, despite what secrets the chess piece might hold.’

______

The cool air of Wakanda felt drastically different from the December Winter in New York City. Living under the barrier-encased city, was something you still hadn’t gotten used too, and you weren’t sure if you ever would. The warm atmosphere brought a new sense to your being, as well as a better understanding for the vast cultures that made up Wakanda. From the various designs of the woven clothes, the variety of dishes from the Golden City to the Border Village, it was like the Kingdom’s technology had conquered the impossible. 

The slow evening cascaded over the day as you made your way to the piece of land Barnes rightfully called his own. It had been four weeks since you had the opportunity to meet him and you couldn’t have been more at peace. From the moment Bucky embraced you for the first time, it seemed that your nightmares that tortured you for years had finally disappeared. In the open plain of your dreams, you often dreamed of nothing, which was what you always longed. To have your mind at ease. It made sense that you didn’t dream of Bucky or Matthew as much, as you were with Barnes all day long. 

Walking down the hill, you put your hands in your jeans pockets and watch Bucky tend to his farm animals. You watch him bring buckets of water back and forth to the few goats who occupy their own space inside a wooden fence. From the tree below, the three Wakandan children help Bucky by carrying a heavy metal bucket full to the brim with feed. Once they see you, they eagerly set down the bucket and run to you. 

Bucky notices their abandonment and outstretches his arm.

“What? Hey-!” He shouts as they run to your side, wrapping their tiny arms around your waist. 

Embracing the children, you stop at the tree just before the farm and sit on the fresh green grass. You admire the children as they stand around you as they start to play with your hair, and briefly touch the features on your face. While you had only been in Wakanda for four weeks, the three children constantly occupied Bucky’s side, were still bewildered by your presence and how differently you looked from Barnes. 

“Hi.” Bucky says, catching his breath while he walks to you.

Smiling up at Bucky, you suddenly remember what you brought in your bag. Playfully gasping in surprise, you begin to unzip your backpack.

“That reminds me! This is for you three of you. I noticed you were playing with an old ball, so I went and bought you a new one.” You explain, taking out a brand new black and blue soccer ball from your bag.

Excitedly taking the soccer ball from your hands, the three children prepare to run off into the fields to play, but Bucky stops them. 

“Hey! What do we say?” Bucky shouts towards them. 

“Thank you, Miss/Mr. Y/N!” The three Wakandan children say before running off to play in the sun.

“They’ve certainly missed you.” Bucky says, wiping the fresh layer of sweat from his brow.

Standing up, you rub the dirt from the palms of your hands and look back at Bucky. 

“And so have I.” He continues, before rushing toward you with a one-armed embrace. 

You excitedly giggle in Barnes’ touch as he spins you around, holding you tightly. 

“I was only gone for two days, Buck. Surely you can survive without me for two days!” You laugh as he sets you down on the grass. 

As much as you missed Bucky, you knew you had to postpone your assignment for a couple of days, as you had to go into emergency surgery. In the middle of a bust morning, you were taking notes on Bucky’s typical social interactions with his friends Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers when you lost our balance while following him. You accidently tripped on an overgrown root that was invisible in the tall grass and landed on your side. 

As soon as you held your right side, Bucky rushed to you in an instant, and a searing pain began to overtake your body. Helping you up, you tried to walk behind him again to continue with your work, but you couldn’t. So the only way to get you back to the Golden City was for Bucky to Fireman Carry you to the lab that Shuri occupied with the Medical Center. After running tests on your side, Shuri found that your appendix had nearly grown twice in size due to the fall and from the different pressure under the barrier. So you had to undergo surgery to remove the unwanted organ and you spent two days with an IV in your arm.

Once the recovery was over the following morning, you quickly went back to your room to shower, and you stumbled upon the soccer ball through the market while you were on your way to visit Bucky. 

“I know, doll. But you had me worried. All I could do was only think of you.” Bucky explains and rubs your cheek with his thumb. 

Smiling, you take his wrist in your hand. 

“You’re so cute when you’re worried. You know that?” You say. 

“Oh yes, I’ve been told a numerous number of times! Where do you think I get it from?” He replies, raising his eyebrows at you. 

Holding his shoulders, you softly smile at Bucky. 

“Are you ready?” You ask Bucky. 

Letting go of your cheek, he just quietly nods, giving you an immediate answer. 

******

You reached down to place an EKG pad onto Bucky’s right temple as he patiently laid stretched out on his makeshift cot. With his hands folded on top of his lap, he gazes at you as you sit down on the floor of his hut. Carefully untangling the wires to the EKG machine, you prepare another pad with a single white wire attached to it. 

“What’s that for? I thought you were only monitoring my dreams.” Bucky says.

“I am. But I can’t see you or my father in mine anymore and I want to know why.” You explain, sticking the other EKG pad to your left temple. 

Turning on the portable EKG machine, both of your heartbeats are displayed on your laptop’s screen. Placing the laptop on a small elevated wooden foot stool, you crawl backwards to lay down on the floor next to Bucky. 

“There’s plenty of room up here if you want to come up.” Bucky says, turning to face you. 

“I’m alright.” You answer, crossing your arms. 

Softly closing your eyes, you let out a large exhale, and Bucky does the same. Fully concentrating on sleep, the EKG machine works hard to take both of your vitals, as well as monitoring the frequent amount of activity during R.E.M. Within an instant, the cool air of Wakanda is distorted by the hot and muggy terrain of a swamp. Sitting up, you gaze around for any sight of Bucky, who stands with his back to you. 

Standing up, you walk over to Bucky, while swatting away a few bugs that fly in your face. Stopping at Bucky’s side, you both glance at each other, and look toward a set of ruins. 

“Ruins? In a swamp?” Bucky asks. 

“It’s a dream, Buck. Anything is possible.” You reply, nudging his shoulder and walk towards the crumpled stone staircase covered in moss and algae. 

Continuing further into the long abandoned temple, Bucky reluctantly follows behind you, keeping his guard up. Glancing at the broken and cracked marble flooring, Bucky takes you forearm in his hand. 

“Look, what is that?” He asks, pointing to a single ray of white lay emanating from the center of the temple.

“I don’t know. It looks like, a computer?” You ask with your tone changing to confusion, questioning why there would be a working computer in the middle of an abandoned temple in a swamp. 

Walking to the computer, the single black text cursor continues blinking amongst the white screen. As your eyes dart over the empty screen, they land on an USB port with an intricate design. Running your fingers over the port, you place your hand in your pocket. 

“Please work, please work...” You whisper to yourself, just as you close your eyes. 

Taking your hand back out, you slowly open your palm to reveal the same plastic bag around the white King chess piece. Your eyes widen at the miracle of the piece being transported into your dream. Opening the plastic, you remove the chess piece and plug it into the USB port. 

Within a few seconds, a folder with a single file pops up on the screen. The file opens on its own, giving you and Bucky no warning. Next, a small video window appears, showing an exhausted Winter Soldier leaning over a desk covered with papers and files. Scanning over the files, he turns to a Matthew L/N who is held at gunpoint by the assassin. 

“Ob"yasni mne eto. Mechty. Chto oni imeyut v vidu?” The Winter Soldier orders, firmly looking for an answer, his thick Russian accent echoes around the room. [Explain this. The dreams. What do they mean?]

Matthew stares at the assassin with a shocked expression on his face. HIs brows crease at the man’s questions. 

“You have them too? I thought I was the only one.” Matthew says, lowering his hands. 

“Rebenok. Kto oni? Rasskazhi mne!!” The Winter Soldier shouts, pointing his gun at Matthew. [The child. Who are they? Tell me!!] 

“...Your soulmate, Mr. Barnes. What you and I are experiencing is called Projective Identification. We can see each other in our dreams and live through our own disjointed memories. There hasn’t been a case like this in centuries. And the child, my child will be cursed with this power. Believe me, I know.” Matthew explains, accepting his fate. 

Through the grainy black and white footage, your hand grips Bucky’s even tighter as you watch the former Winter Soldier drag your father back out into the bunker’s hallway. Before Matthew can say anything else, the ghost shoots the cameras, letting the static take over. You feel hot tears drip from your eyes as you turn away, yanking the King from the computer.

Facing Bucky, you stand tall before him, wiping your chin with your shirt sleeve.

"Why didn't you tell me?" You ask, before deciding to wake up.

******

You opened your eyes to the empty space of Bucky's hut. Removing the EKG pad, you rub your eyes from the bright sunlight and step outside. Shielding your eyes with your hand, you spot Bucky walking into the deep woods behind his farm. Jogging closely behind, you can feel his utter frustration from a few feet away and you hate it. It was almost as if his kindness and warmed soul just vanished.

You stop a couple of feet away from him, as he remains crouched by a river.

"I know what you're going to say, Y/N. It'll only damage us even more if you do." Bucky orders.

Walking to him, you stand next to Bucky in silence and watch him clean one of his indigo robes.

"We can't help each other if we don't talk to one another." You say and briefly touch the base of his right shoulder for a moment.

Even though you don't need to see it, you can feel Bucky begin to fall into a pit of sadness as he moves his head away from you. His hair covers his eyes as you release your hand.

"I never meant for this to happen and neither did your father. But here we are, entangled together in an endless loop." Bucky mumbles through tears.

"You didn't know, Bucky. But this doesn't change anything. Or how I feel about you. Whether you're a deadly assassin or just a simple soldier with only one arm." You explain, forcing your tears to go away.

"No! You don't understand. You'll never know how I feel." Bucky shouts in your direction.

"Then show me." You reply.

Bucky stands from his work and begins to untie his red and grey robes. Removing the top grey robe over his head, he drops it to the ground, and begins to breathe erratically, shedding his emotions. Untying the ornate deep red robe, he slowly uncovers the place where his previous Vibranium arm used to be. Now, only the remaining silver metal is covered by a black carbon fiber medical patch.

Stepping toward him, your e/c eyes quietly gaze over his muscular torso, his arms, and his chest, until they stop at the place where his left arm used to be. You extend your hand toward the remainder of the charred Vibranium and your finger traces over the cold metal before moving over to the harsh scar tissue that adorns the space above his breast.

"Oh Bucky." You choke out, with your lower lip quivering at the evidence of his history.

"I know. But this doesn't change anything." Bucky says, controlling his breathing.

"This doesn't change what?" You ask, facing him, with tears falling down your face.

"At how much I love you. I love you, Y/N. I always have from the moment you first appeared in my dreams." Bucky explains, taking your face in his hand.

Through your tears, you begin to happily sob, and you move closer to Bucky. Your lips touch his. His stubble tickles your mouth when he pulls you closer, deepening the kiss. Your hands trace along his bare back when he picks you up, allowing you to balance yourself on his chest.

Breaking the kiss for a moment, a quiet moan escapes his bright pink lips, only wanting more. But today wasn't the day for that.

"I love you, Bucky Barnes. But what are we supposed to do now?" You ask, wondering about your new situation that just arose.

"We'll just have to wait and see. But you can't get rid of me that easily." Bucky replies, with the kindest smile in the world.

Tightly wrapping your arms around him, you listen to Bucky's heartbeat, imagining how the hell the two of you were going to move forward.


End file.
